Building a Pipeline

Nov 27, 2007

M&A deal flow slowed in the fourth quarter, but bankers
report a healthy pipeline building for 2008, which some say
could be as eventful as 2008.
"For M&A I'm extremely optimistic," says Marcus Silberman,
MD and head of LatAm M&A at Credit Suisse. "We haven't
suffered at all any of the slowdown with respect to credit
markets. It will be a repeat, or even better than this
year."

In particular, a busy 2007 for Brazilian IPOs is expected to
translate into a brisk M&A environment. Natural resources
and financial institutions are tipped as sectors ripe for
consolidation, and Chinese entities are heard joining the bid
for the latter. Mid-cap Brazilian banks are in play, while
private equity sponsors are also getting more active in
strategic acquisitions in a variety of sectors.